Table of Contents

• First Off . . .
• Other News and Announcements
• CMAP Blogs
• Events

First Off...

RTPTF.  On April 8, the first meeting of the Regional Tax Policy Task Force will be held at 9:30 AM in the CMAP offices.  For more information or to be added to the mailing list for this group, please contact Matt Maloney at mmaloney@cmap.illinois.gov.

VAMOS AL AÑO 2040.  The shorter version of the GO TO 2040 plan, as well as other resources, are now available in Spanish on our website.  
 

Other News and Announcements

Save the Date:  FLIP final presentation.  The FLIP (Future Leaders in Planning) final presentation will be held on Saturday May 7, from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m.  Students from the 2010-2011 program learned about and made recommendations for Fairmont's Safe Routes to School Grant in Will County.  RSVP to Lily Wilcock (lwilcock@cmap.illinois.gov).  The 2011-2012 FLIP application is now available. Please share materials with local high school students who would be interested in learning more about planning and contribute to make a better future for our region. Keep up with FLIP by becoming a fan of its Facebook page.

Raymundo honored.  On March 27, CMAP Board member Raul Raymundo was awarded the De La Salle Award from Lewis University for his service and leadership to the community and region.  Read more at TribLocal. 

CMAP in the news.  I spoke with JCF Real Estate about Kane County and how its communities can benefit from implementation of GO TO 2040 for REJournals.com.  On April 4, WNIJ-FM will broadcast an interview with me to kick off their three-part series on how northern Illinois communities are preparing for the growing elderly population.  The Metropolitan Planning Council (MPC) posted a video of T4America's James Corless discussing GO TO 2040 implementation, and MPC also mentioned plan recommendations for redevelopment and transit-oriented development on their blog.

Energy Star.  Chicago is the fourth-ranked city for most Energy Star certified buildings in 2010.  Read more in this press release.

Safety Express.  From April 13 to 21, Union Pacific Railroad invites local officials, law enforcement, business leaders, and community leaders to ride aboard the Safety Express.  These safety trains will focus on highway-rail grade crossing safety.  Specific times, locations, RSVP instructions, and other information are available on-line.

SBIR application assistance.  On April 4, the Clean Energy Trust and New Equity Business will host Innovation Marketplace - NSF SBIR Grid and Energy Focus to help businesses within the Illinois Smart Grid Cluster and the Illinois CleanTech Ecosystem prepare Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) applications.

FBC.  Chicago Public Radio reported on the benefits of using form-based code (FBC) to improve livability and encourage mixed-use development through zoning, which is also recommended in GO TO 2040. 

Burnham Award nominations open.  Through April 27, 2011, MPC is taking nominations for the 2011 Burnham Awards for Excellence in Planning, which encourages sensible growth by honoring innovative and visionary planning efforts in metropolitan Chicago.  Apply at http://www.metroplanning.org/burnham.
 

CMAP Blogs

Green Signals.  CMAP’s transportation operations blog highlighted a study that explores the development of a next generation ramp metering algorithm based on traffic density measurements, rather than traffic flows.  The blog also featured a new guide book on work zone operations strategies currently practiced by transportation agencies around the country.

Soles and Spokes.  CMAP’s bike-ped planning blog highlighted a new website with regular updates on Chicago's Lakefront Trail conditions from the Active Transportation Alliance.  We also announced a new curricula guide for teaching bicycle and pedestrian safety from the Safe Routes to School National Partnership.  Finally, we alerted readers to the new NHTSA Traffic Safety factsheets for pedestrian and bicyclist crashes, which summarize national data for 2009.

Policy Updates.  The SECTORS Act (Strengthening Employment Clusters to Organize Regional Successes) was announced in the U.S. Senate this week.  The Act would encourage partnerships between the public and private sectors to develop and implement plans focused on growing a particular industry and targeting workforce training to that employment cluster.  We also blogged about a new innovation challenge through the White House's Startup America Initiative.
 

Events

Resource Fair and Business Expo
April 7, 2011
8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
9000 W. College Pkwy, Palos Hills
Hosted by Economic Development Council for the Southwest Suburbs at Moraine Valley Community College
More information

Spring Conference and Awards Ceremony
April 19, 2011
9:00 a.m. to noon
Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum, 2430 N. Cannon Drive, Chicago
Hosted by Partners for Clean Air
More information

GO TO 2040 Roundtable:  "We Have a Plan. Let's Do It!"
April 27, 2011
Noon to 1:30 p.m.
140 S. Dearborn Street, Suite 1400, Chicago
Hosted by the Metropolitan Planning Council
Registration

Planning Commissioner Training -- Southwest Cook
April 30 and May 14, 2011
8:00 to 11:45 a.m.
Palos Hills Community Center: 8545 W. 103rd Street, Palos Hills
Hosted by CMAP, Southwest Council of Mayors
Registration

Planning Commissioner Training -- DuPage County
May 7 and 21, 2011
8:00 to 11:45 a.m.
Carol Stream Village Hall: 500 N. Gary Avenue, Carol Stream
Hosted by CMAP, DuPage Mayors and Managers Conference
Registration

E-Government Workshop: Achieving IT Efficiencies Through Collaboration
May 12, 2011
8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Hilton Lisle/Naperville, 3003 Corporate West Drive, Lisle
Hosted by University of Illinois at Chicago - College of Urban Planning & Public Affairs
Discounted registration for CMAP Partners

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